Spicoli Burgers and Pakastani Dahl (Again)

I saw a recipe in ED&BV for some nice-looking veggie burgers. They're called "Spicoli" burgers due to the cup of hemp seeds the recipe contains. I thought that was pretty funny, and I have been looking for a plain-ish veggie burger that would be like eating an actual burger. You know, not like a Mexican-style bean burger or something. I've been wanting to make these burgers for a few weeks. No hemp seeds to be found here in town (well, not the shelled, edible-type anyway). ;) So, I ordered them online. Hemp seeds are packed with protein, fiber and essential fatty acids. Due to the idiotic drug laws in the U.S., industrial hemp can't be grown here in the states. This makes me crazy, and I could go on and on about it, but I won't. Even in light of the current food and fuel prices, I won't go into how hemp could potentially solve some of these problems. On to the food...

The burgers were really, really tasty. Loaded with short-grain brown rice, onion, red pepper, spices and hemp seeds. Sleek said that they reminded him of crab-cakes. I agree that these would make a suitable, vegan replacement for a crab-cake sandwich. I topped mine with some Vegenaise, red onion and lettuce. Very tasty.

Last night I wanted to make something simple. Something that I already had all the ingredients for. So, it was Pakastani Dahl once again. I made this a few months ago, and I thought it should become a regular. I guess it hasn't quite made it there yet! I found the recipe on Vegweb. I like to add a little garam masala and some extra chili powder. The original recipe isn't quite flavorful enough for me. It's so tasty, and the recipe makes plenty for leftovers the next day.


We spent the holiday weekend in our state capital, Charleston. We did lots of visiting with my Mamaw. We also explored downtown Charleston a little. A beautiful downtown, but not many people out and about. We thought it was kind of strange. We had a great dinner at Sitar of India with Becky and her husband, Mike. It was really fun. It's cool to meet an online friend in real life! The food was fantastic too. I had wanted to have brunch at Bluegrass Kitchen, but after eating three fresh-out-of-the-fryer Krispy Kremes for breakfast, I was pretty much done for the day. I'll hit it up next time for sure. We also saw family friends Bill and Becky Kimmons perform a concert with their a cappella trio, Bare Bones. Our kids are huge fans, so they thought it was a pretty big deal. It was a great concert, and they debuted songs from their new cd, Put Your Loving Arms All Around Me.

Yesterday, I was pleased to see this article/interview with Radiohead on cnn.com. They're so freaking cool! It prompted me to listen to Kid A, which is just a fantastic follow up to the amazingly hard-act-to-follow OK Computer. I remember a feeling of relief rushing over me the first time I put Kid A on. I was so afraid it wouldn't live up to OK Computer or The Bends. When I heard the first chords of Everything in it's Right Place start off the CD, I knew everything would be just fine.